just because. i live in a pretty neat neighborhood. though it may be hollywood famous, that isn't why i love it so much. i'm not sure what it is. i do remember driving through when i was in highschool and having this moment of thinking..when i am an adult with a job, i can live anywhere i want to. i can live here! and lookie now...i do!my neighborhood is quite walkable. i can go to the library, the post office, a movie, a bookstore, a neato coffee & cake place...an art gallery or two...all sorts of places. we're a hop, skip & a jump from the subway which will take us to hollywood or downtown l.a. depending on which side of the platform we stand on.we our somewhat city centric but with the park nearby, we get all sorts of birds flying by. plus, The Observatory can be seen from our street and it looks so pretty. oh and don't forget the river. and the fountain. and...and...and...these pics are just little glimpses of my walk to and from the library early one morning before most people were awake.happy wednesday!

Friday, October 23, 2009

last night mr. a-go-go and i were camped out on the mushy-messy-pine colored-sofa. we had our ukes out and i was pretending to practice while mr. a-go-go strummed away. the tune he was strumming sounded familiar but he strums a lot of tunes that sound familiar.

i tuned up the cigar box uke my brother made me and attempted to strum. i'm all giant thumbs and spider fingers and everything gets caught up and knotted but i barrel on, though, secretly i wanted to throw the uke across the room and stomp off in a huff with my fists clenched. he played and i tried to and then he says...

"hey, this is only g,c & d, you can do this."

i glance over to what he is playing and now i know why the tune is familiar. it's one of my favorite neko case songs which always reminds me (foolishly) of someone i adored a long time ago. he begins strumming and counting out the emphasis...

i tell him i have never waltzed and before i can get all fisty, stompy frustrated, he pulls me up and teaches me to waltz right there in our tiny living room that is made even tinier for all the piles of doilies, magazine pages, craft supplies and books.

there is no music playing save for that in our heads and all the while mr. a-go-go & i turn tiny waltzy circles on the warped wood floor.

we are laughing and stumbling and twirling about when we decide that a waltz in not unlike a polka.

he says to me "they have the same count just with a different emphasis..."

and with that we both bust out and begin a mad polka...trip tropping wherever we can find a place to place our feet. and we twirl, and we stomp and we move so fast we are dizzy with delight.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

i'm a wonky juggler at best and already i'm dropping balls...and plates...and bowls willy nilly...only two days into my challenge and i blow it.

there is just not enough time. sigh. i've got projects written out...and lists made. the lists are finished, maybe i should post the lists and let you use your imagination but i still hope to get something made, something done. just not gonna happen now or this week...too much to do that needs to be done and sadly the posts are only for my sanity. which is slowly slipping away with laundry, balloon-a-ma-bobs, dust bunnies from beyond and boxes upon boxes of stuff, crap & junk.

Monday, October 19, 2009

make a mix cd! jump into the halloween festivites with your very own play list. here are the tunes on my list...if you are in need of any of these i may be able to help you out...though, itunes is a godsend!

and no, i'm not going to get all super homebody on you and show you how to make your own pumpkin puree, not that i don't want to, i just have yet to do it and have no pumpkins available to mash up so we're gonna do this with a can. just don't tell martha or mary jane, okay?

i have a favorite banana bread recipe that i adore. i also adore pumpkin anything and my favorite pumpkin anything as you all should know by now are these pumpkin squares. they are fluffy light and soooo very drool worthy and they should be, they have two sticks of butter in them. two whole sticks. yikes! easy to forget when you can eek out those squares for a few days but sometimes, they are just sooo good (as in, you-don't-wanna-share-them good), you find that they sadly didn't make it to the next day. but then you remember that you bought the BIG can of pumpkin so you can make another batch but you find that you have no butter in the house unless you count the slightly gooey and crumb coated few tablespoons left in the butter dish in the pantry. yeah. not gonna work.

so, speaking from experience, ahem, i found that i still had some pumpkin left in the can and needed to do something with it. oh, twist my arm! and sure enough, i only had one stick of butter and two eggs left in the fridge, what to do? what to do? it was then that i spied my banana bread recipe clinging to the side of the fridge and thought A-HA! pumpkin puree was kinda like mashed bananas right? so i went for it and it was gooooood!

okay, here is the annoying part, i have no measure for the pumpkin, it may have been a cup it may have been more or less. i don't know, i winged it. i tend to do that. it looked like there wasn't enough so i added a mashed banana as well and then, when the batter was too thicky-sticky, i added a couple of tablespoons of orange juice and whatever was left of the whipping cream that had been camping out in the fridge forever. it smelled fine, so don't worry. also, for the spices, i like my bread spicy so i just keep shaking those pour jars until i'm happy. my secret ingredient is black pepper.

set your oven to 350 degrees F and get cracking.mix your oil, sugar, eggs and pumpkin together and then add your dried ingredients. stir, stir, stir and add those chocolate chips and pecans (or not, it's up to you).pour everything into a loaf pan* that has been generously oiled & floured and top off with more nuts and chocolate. bake for about 45 minutes or until you can pull a toothpick out of the loaf and have it be dazzling clean. serve it up with a neutral beverage** and enjoy.*sometimes i find i have way too much batter for my loaf pan so i also bake a mini loaf as well. or you could use a bigger pan. it's up to you.

**my beverage of choice is unsweetened coffee with half n half. it is a very tasty balance to the sweet of the bread.

don't forget to listen to your halloween tunes while yer baking. it adds a wee zip to the experience. halloween tunes or doris day...

let's see if i can pull this off. i've always wanted to so here i am, putting the words to paper, so to speak, and am committing myself to this insanity. and since this is a countdown folks, we're starting with lucky number thirteen...what shall we make today?

old school crafty ghost garlands! okay, i'm cheating just a wee bit as i have just posted the ghost project on the 'do but lookie how fun it is to turn em into garlands!

pictures coming tomorrow..for now, click here to see what i am talking about!

all you need is your army of ghosts and a needle and embroidery thread. though, i suppose you can use fishing line which would make them look more spooky floaty.

and it only feels a little icky poking the needle into your wee ghostie's head. you may want to add the faces after...maybe it's just me...i am a bit of a softie.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

a day late but the holiday took priority...and we were on the road...let's see, last week was kinda crazy busy and full of stuff. i was out and about helping some peeps out and running errands like crazy. monday i hit the thrift with my big brother, LOVE hanging out with him. tuesday was a crazy writing day. had many deadlines to finish and it felt like there was no time at all to do it all. mr. a-go-go was sick both those days so my usual rhythm of the day was even more wonky than usual. i did drag him out for ice cream and gift shopping for this fabulous lady. heehee. wednesday was more writing, more deadlines and some walking errands. thursday was a planned movie day that turned into lunch, shopping and old neighborhood visiting. friday was more of the same and then we hit the road at the crack of dawn to travel up northish for a weekend with the family where we went to an apple farm and a pumpkin patch. we ate noodles and burgers and yummy homemade soup. we played ukes, uno and yahtzee and had a grand time just hanging out. a pretty good week, fabulous even! this week will be more deadlines, more errands and hopefully i will be able to find time to dive back into the purge. wanna have it done already so i can throw a truffle party or somethin'. happy october!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

hurry over to lulu today to save 25% off my photo book...(code: FALLFOTO)...the sale ends October 11...but if y miss out, don't worry, you can save 14.92% off if you buy my book on Monday for the Columbus Day (code: PINTA) sale...it's a win, win situation, don't ya think? (the pic up top is a sneak of some of the photos included in the book...theysure are pretty....heehee)

Thursday, October 08, 2009

today there is a wee beastie demon camping out on my shoulder whispering horrific taunts in my ear. it is almost, but not quite drowning out my own taunty-taunts that are swirling about my head. sigh. i suppose this is what happens when there is a casa to clean and purge, a deadline looming over your head and a night where you slept most fitfully. double sigh.

at least, i am not alone...(read her confession. that is what i'm talkin' 'bout yo...though to be honest there is a bit more muck lurking about in my brain. aack.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

today is quite extraordinary in its ordinary-ness. the mister is home sick from work and i've been glued glued glued to the computer tippy typing out all sorts of text. methinks my eyes have crossed.there was a morning break to run and meet stacey at the goodwill for some scheming of turning something nifty into something even niftier. after that we had to get coffee..but of course. and then once home, i washed up a sinkful of thrifted dishes and dragged the mister out to glendale for a very important errand for a very important someone's birthday next week. (ssshhhhhh) after which of course we needed, needed, needed a vanilla malt (and a jump).once home, the mister went back to reading and costume making. i went back to tippy typing and maybe a bit of a nap was involved. i snored myself away and dragged my sleepy self into the tiny kitchen where i chopped up some taters for dinner. roasted taters with turmeric...soo good!back to tippy typing while the mister finishes cooking up our dinner (which i have just been informed is ready) with a secret break to flickr and email and a blog read or two. and that is it. a very ordinary day.

gonna go eat...bbq tofu sandwiches with garden fresh lettuce and some roasted taters. the evening is chilly and i am soooo happy to be wearing long sleeves. yay for fall!

Monday, October 05, 2009

last week there was...baking, reading, scheming, writing, project making and netflixing in between. the weekend consisted of hiking, gardening, errands, costume making, and more reading. we also trekked on out to littlerock to hit up charlie brown farms (which is just as chaotic as its website) for some bbq that managed to keep us full until lunch the next day. the next day we trekked out for costume accoutrements and curry at india sweets ans spices (after all that bbq, we filled our meat quota for the week and needed some vegetarian fare.) the weather has FINALLY turned and it is almost cool enough for long sleeves. i am sooo excited. this week i need need need to finish up a major deadline, dive back into the purge and photograph projects and etsy goodies.

today i am taking my big brother thrift shopping and am gidddy, i tell ya. i love that guy! tonight we celebrate the lucy-goose's ninth birthday. nine? when did that happen? laterthis week, if all goes well, there may be a movie day with stacey and there will be a trek up to visit with family for the weekend. i am sooo happy jeppy deighted that it is october!

Saturday, October 03, 2009

i had such a swell time culling the color shots for poppytalk's autumn colour week that i thought i would share one more for red...i also feel giddy, excited and totally honored that for four of the days, a picture of mine made it into the colour collection. swoon! thank you poppytalk for the inspiration and fun! aappy autumn!playing along with poppytalk's autumn colour week. check out the flickr pool here.

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All images and content (c) 2007-2017, Jessica Wilson, unless otherwise noted. Unauthorized use of images or content without permission is prohibited. Please give me a shout out if you have any questions! Otherwise I may have to hunt you down and kick you in the shins.

p.s. if you do link up or repost, please, please, please note that this blog is named scrumdillydilly not Scrumdillydilly. Thank you.______________________________________________